finally Friday

We've had some more snow and chilly weather.  There were a couple of teaser days that were warm (relatively speaking).  Luckily we didn't miss school but there are a lot of outside activities planned this weekend that are in jeopardy.  Tonight is supposed to be Ethan's first outdoor game of the spring season.  I don't know if it will be rained out.  Also tonight R is supposed to take the teachers quorum biking around the lake.  Tomorrow is our stake youth activity, planned outside at Greenwell State Park.  It's a great activity but the weather is looking really dicey.  

I've been wanting to recover our ottoman.  It's been pretty ghetto.  I found this fabric and it spoke to me so I brought it home and R helped me recover the old one.  I like how it turned out.  My decorating style is very eclectic, if I find something that I love that's what I go with. LOL

On Wednsday we had a half day.  Han brought friends home and we ordered a pizza and made cookies.  The girls had a fun time.  In the evening I went out to Bowie for their New Beginnings.  They had a wonderful program that was very uplifting.

One of the sisters in their area is a geologist.  She came and spoke about how a diamond is formed and then compared that process with the pressure and heat the YW go through to become the "diamond" that they are.  My favorite thing she said was that diamonds don't belong on the earth's surface, they are formed far below (100 miles or so) and are rare and beautiful on the surface.  Likewise our YW don't belong here, not really.  They are here on earth for a short time (100 years + or -) and then go home to our Heavenly Father where they really belong.  They are not earthy beings having a spiritual experience but rather spiritual beings having an earth experience. Loved it.

memories

My iPhone sorts pictures in memory categories.  I love this, it's a sweet word to use.  When we got home from NYC everyone was excited.  The kids and pup were happy to see us and Han was excited to tell her adventures to the fam.  After everyone settled down we watched "The Book Thief" for Hannah. She is doing a book report on it and wanted some movie version input.  It was sad.  I slept for part of it but that parts I saw were sad.  E, surprisingly, watched and liked it.  I like this memory because I'm all jammied up and laying on R, and E and Z are laying on me.  It was warm and toasty and cozy.

Monday Jodie and I took our dogs to Greenwell to walk the trails again and make sure we had two courses that were similar in distance.  We do. Yay.  It was a little chilly out but not too bad once you got moving and the water is always beautiful.  Jack and Ziva did well.

Today I drove through the snow flurries, I know crazy huh!, to the bank, then stopped at BAM to stock up on cruise books.  I got everything in the discount dept and didn't pay more than $4 for a book.  I have a few fluffy reads to enjoy now.  The hard part will be waiting 19 days to start reading them!

Then I came home and did some chores.  I love Lu's cheery room.  The elephant head, Henry, is the newest addition. I got him at FAO Schwartz! He was normally $49.99 and was on sale for $13.00 so exciting!  Of course then we had to schlep him all around times square, including the theater and a restaurant and to church and on the bus.  And when I say we I really mean it cuz he was big and hard to miss.  Lu loved him!  This is most of her herd, none of the wooden, beaded, glass or stone elephants are here but all the stuffies are.  Not dog is in the place of honor in the front and Abby is on the right.  I am not sure which one is Elinore but the others are all George.  

Laundry and dishes and dancing with the stars round out the rest of my day.  

Sunday

We found a ward building where we were able to attend sacrament meeting. The girls were embarrassed to come wheeling in with our bags but we were not the lone visitors, in fact it looked to me like half the congregation was visitng. They had everyone raise their hand in the beginning to be welcomed if they were visitors. Both of the talks were on visiting teaching/home teaching. I am a terrible visiting teacher. I enjoyed the talks and felt very motivated to improve. It was really nice to go to sacrament. There is such a feeling of belonging to me. I love the simplicity of our chapels and the sacredness of taking the sacrament. There is joy in singing the hymns and peace in participating. 

The chapel shares the building with the temple. It was such a sharply contrasting feeling seeing the angel Moroni as we were walking down the street looking for the building. We were all excited and looked up and smiled. Yesterday we walked around Times Square and saw tons of ads for every product, show, and form of entertainment. That was fun, this was joy.

Point of interest: the high council speaker was Robert Comstock, the fashion designer. 

After church we hurried and caught a cab to the bus...and then waited 2 hours outside in the cold since the bus was late. The silver lining was that we ended up with the best seat on the bus. We have a table so the girls can do their homework and we are all seated together.

I hope Hannah thinks this weekend was as special as I do. It's very much a treat to spend one on one time with the children. This trip especially was a once in a lifetime!

Day 2

What a fun and exhausting city! We have been walking everywhere which has been really fun.

This morning we found a little corner grocery and had breakfast then we went and watched Divergent in IMAX. It was as good as the book and really neat on the giant screen.

Then we went to Macys the largest department store. We rode the wooden escalator and saw the beginnings of the flower show and gawked at the largeness of it all.

Our next scheduled stop was the tkts office to try and get some "cheap" tickets for a show and we met Mark who told us about this "life changing pizza", which we tried and I'll tell you my life has a new top ten worst restaurant services experiences to add to the list. Seinfelds soup nazi has nothing on these guys. We did get Cinderella tickets and the pizza wasn't bad

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Central Park and walking through some cute shops. We went to Tiffany's, where they had a person to push the elevator button for you and to Barnes & Noble where they sell books ;). I enjoyed peeking at the zoo and we all liked people watching.

For dinner we ate at Ruby Foos. The dim sum and the sushi were both tasty and the bathroom had an attendant that you tipped. 

Cinderella was great. The seats were a little cozy and the leg room lacking but the sets and costumes and singers were amazing. They had a fun twist to the story which we enjoyed as well. 

Fun day!

NYC

Hannah and I have been wanting to go to NYC together for a long time. Finally the right opportunity came up and we jumped on it.  Aubrey and Jodie came with us and today was our first day here.  I was worried because yesterday I didn't feel well.  When I took my temp. it was 101.8 so I put myself to bed, said a prayer and went to sleep.  Today I have been fine, although I find myself smelly and hope I am not offending my friends.  Strange.

Anyway, we caught the megabus, which is an awesome deal.  We missed our scheduled bus but got on the next one and had a pleasant drive.  Once here we found our hotel, which is old and the rooms are small but it's clean so that's great.

We dumped our luggage and started our fun.  It was a great day.  We walked around looking at stuff, shopped, gawked at the city...

Ate at Ellen's Stardust Cafe, where aspiring actors work as singing waiters.  Our waiter was Frenchy and we loved him. He even came and sang to our table.

We went to a 4 story Forever 21 where Hannah and Aubrey both found things to buy.  Surprise.

Then we went to see Wicked, which was just as amazing the second time!!!

On the walk home it was so crazy.  It was 11 pm, yet the streets were just as crowded and just as light as day.  We got some street food to bring back to the hotel and enjoyed a yummy middle eastern dinner in the lobby before turning in for the night.

Day One = Super Fun! I'm so glad to get to do this with Hannah and with our friends.  

Hannah

Tonight for YW Hannah's class planned a handcuffed dinner followed by a talk by Bro. Castro. I was invited to come, which was very fun.  The dinner was very funny to watch.  The kids cooperated well and almost none wore spaghetti on their faces!

This picture is from the dance a few weeks ago. Joseph and Hannah having fun. 

Poor Han went to the orthodontist today and got rubber bands on her braces.  Now her teeth hurt :(

I <3 Sierra

I love when Si's friends post pictures of her on Facebook. I miss this amazing, wonderful, funny and kind daughter. Can't wait to see her this summer!!